


Bonds of Loyalty

by TrulyMightyPotato



Series: Protector Duties [6]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: (one chapter only), Animal Death, Assassination, Assassination attempts, Blindness, Demons (of a sort), Dragons, Gen, Magical Swords, Necromancy, Undead, Very Powerful Magic, War, abandoned, tags updated as needed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-06-09 15:25:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 18,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15270483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrulyMightyPotato/pseuds/TrulyMightyPotato
Summary: The Realms are once again going to war, this time to aid the Land of the Squirrels and end this trouble before it spreads. Gar has to kill a dragon, but the only sword built to do that won't let him touch it. Dan is struggling to control his magic as his abilities grow. Sooner or later, they'll run out of time, and they can only hope they'll have everyone and everything in place when judgement day comes. And to make things worse, Gar seems to have one more big secret that he won't tell anyone, but will ultimately determine who lives and who dies.ABANDONED, more info in the final chapter.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I said I'd come back, and here it is: the final full-length installation I have planned for this world. At least for now, since we all know I'm a sucker for fantasy and keep coming back to this. (I might be playing with the idea of rewrites, but who knows.)
> 
> Ah well.
> 
> Enjoy :D

The Realms echoed with preparations for war.

In the south, the Fourth Realm set aside seeds in near-impenetrable safekeeps far too small to hold a significant amount of people. Should things go badly and the dragon and Adroy attack the Realms, they needed to ensure they’d have the seeds they’d need to not starve after it was all over. Those who asked if such a thing was really necessary took one look at either Dan or Amanda’s grave expressions and clamped their mouths shut.

The Third Realm set aside their music and their performances, and turned their attention to weaving and embroidering, working magic into each bit of string and fiber they could. The spells that made cloth act much like armor, normally saved for the nobility and Protectors, were put into every completed uniform. In an act to honor Phil--he was still much loved, after all, and had seen them safely through the last war--a large variety of seeds were sewn into hems and twisted into string as it was embroidered. It wouldn’t offer much in the way of protection, but it offered comfort, and that was enough for them.

The forges of the Second Realm were working nearly 24 hours a day, preparing weapons of all kinds. Most of the ones from the last war had been reforged into tools for living by this point, but those who still had them began sharpening them once again. Jordan spent his days writing down all the Adroy-specific fighting techniques he could remember and how best to beat them, and sent copies of the written manual out with diagrams. The fewer deaths the Realms had, the better.

In the north, the Seventh Realm was busy ushering in refugees from the Land of the Squirrel. JP was straining resources as far as they would go, not wanting to allow a single person to go hungry or cold if he could at all help it. Those who could lent their hands to work, and the fortress walls climbed higher and higher at the end of each day. At the stories of the destruction the dragon had done, JP wove as much strength and durability as he could into the protection spells surrounding the Realm and Septimal.

The Sixth Realm was dealing with its own slew of refugees, and MatPat took their stories and his extensive library and sent his magic searching for anything that might help give them a leg up in the upcoming battles. More often than not, his “down time” consisted of pulling Steph to the side and the two developing plan after contingency plan and treasuring each and every moment they got to spend together.

The Fifth Realm was filled with the sounds of mining, and of preparations to defend the Realms’ borders. It was demanding a lot from the people, Cry knew, so when a now-adult Pillow approached and communicated that the Sup Guys wanted to help again, and that they wanted to talk to the other resident magical creatures in the Realms to convince them to help, he accepted without hesitation. And when Dil approached him, asking for metal thread for the armored embroidery, he made sure to send over the most enchantable available.

And in the center of it all, in the First Realm, sat the heart of all the operations. Wade’s office had turned into almost nothing but war planning and preparations--though the regular runnings of the Realms were still largely conducted in there, just much less obvious. The solar of his apartment was often filled with reports from the nobility and at least one of the generals.

The magic, too, was preparing for war. It wasn’t something that would be noticed by any of the young nobles, those who had been bound to the magic either right before or during the Suzerain War, but those with significantly more experience could tell something was up. They could feel the magic focusing, preparing. Some of the nobles even spoke with it directly.

None of them could feel it quite as acutely as Bluescale.

Bluescale gazed out over the Realms, or at least as much as she could see from her seat on Grayscale’s nose, and hummed softly.

The magic didn’t like the idea of going to war--though if it had Bluescale would have worried--but it wasn’t shying away from it either. It needed to be.

Bluescale quietly ran her fingers over a small patch of Grayscale’s scales, then stood and walked back to her regular place behind his head, digging her fingers into his feathery mane to keep grip.

Without so much as flapping a wing, Grayscale began moving across the sky--not that he could move a wing, seeing as he didn’t  _ have _ wings. It certainly made for a different flying sensation, compared to riding on Greenscale. Or even what it had felt like flying herself, though it had been so long since Bluescale had been able to take her dragon form that she barely remembered what it was like having wings.

She absently called her scales, then smiled as pale blue scales spread their way up her arms.  _ Her _ scales. Much smaller than they would regularly, be, of course, since she was in a human form and not a dragon form, and they couldn’t cover her entire body, but sometimes it was nice to remember what her own scales looked like.

Greenscale rumbled softly, a sound both offering comfort and reminding her she was loved, no matter the fact that he’d never seen her dragon form.

She rubbed her hand along the back of his head fondly. “I know. I know.” She smiled at him, aware he could feel it through their mating bond. “I know.”

This high up, the air was cold, even in late spring. Any regular human would either have to be bundled for protection or freeze to death. Even dragons tended to have a harder time. Grayscale could manage for short periods, though, and travel was safer above the clouds.

Bluescale didn’t have any problems with the cold. She was an ice dragon, after all. And yet, she was still bundled fully--not for her own benefit, though.

She pulled the front of her heavy cloak away from her body and peeked down into the baby sling she was wearing. The small hatchling in there stirred slightly at the movement, and she nodded decisively before patting Grayscale as a signal to go back.

The hatchling strapped to her was the second to hatch, but they were already having to give him much more attention than the eldest (Thore was already capable of toddling around unsteadily and exploring things). The reason for that was this little one’s egg had cracked unprovoked. It had taken a lot of work and quite a few miracles for the egg to last as long as it had, but Lo had ended up emerging far too early.

It would be a miracle if he survived to being able to take a human form. But, they still held out hope, and if they had to take turns strapping Lo to themselves to keep an eye on him for several months still, they would.

Once home, Grayscale resumed his human form and headed to their house to rest.

Bluescale, however, couldn’t bring herself to rest just yet and instead began wandering the grounds.

It was such a quiet place, here, but the preparations were reaching here, too. That, she suspected was the magic’s doing. There was no other reason for the children to be so restless.

At least the magic wasn’t trying to send them off to war. They were, after all, still children.

Even Arianna, as the next to be bound, wasn’t going to be heading off to war. She’d be staying in Quartal with Luna.

Bluescale let out a long sigh and turned her gaze to Molly, sitting under one of the trees, the twins playing next to her.

A year and a half. She’d been here for a year and a half, and there was no telling when it would be safe for her to return to Primus.

She, too, was preparing for the war. She didn’t have her weapons with her at the exact moment, likely because Gar wasn’t available to watch the twins, but she’d been training herself.

As for Gar...

Bluescale turned her gaze to the close training courtyard, where Greenscale and Gar looked like they were trying to kill each other--at least, to the untrained eye. Greenscale was far too skilled to let themself get hurt.

It was good to see the progress Gar had made in the past year, since he really applied himself to it. He and Snow had figured out how to see through Snow’s eyes consistently, she knew, but considering he wasn’t radiating any magic of any kind, he was fighting blind.

Literally.

Even if his eyesight had come back with time--which it hadn’t--Gar still wore a blindfold.

Teaching him how to fight completely blind had been difficult, as he’d had to train himself out of looking for visual clues, but he was doing well.

Bluescale smiled softly as Gar ducked, dodging a strike from Greenscale’s blunted training sword. There had been no hesitation in that action, and no unsteadiness. He wasn’t quite as confident as he had been when he could see, but he was close, and the rest would come with time.

Bluescale nodded quietly as Gar took the offensive and started driving Greenscale back.

She’d need to talk to Gar and Molly later.

He was ready to head to Septimal and learn how to use Tapestry.


	2. Courtyard

Dan stepped back, aware his breathing was heavy and his hair plastered to his head with sweat. Sparring practice wasn’t exactly easy work, though, and everyone in the courtyard looked like this, so it was easier to not be so self-conscious about it.

PJ let his sword drop to a resting position, though he was breathing just as heavily as Dan, and the two just stared at each other.

A light clap came from one of the archways entering the training courtyard, and Dan turned to see Wade and Pat looking at them.

Dan bowed mockingly. “Glad to entertain.”

Wade laughed as he walked over, though the sound didn’t hide the weight on his shoulders or the strain on his face. “Please, I am the king. Of course you should entertain me.”

Dan narrowed his eyes and set his shoulders. “I will fight you.”

Pat raised an eyebrow and sent a concerned look to PJ, who just shook his head softly and made a “later” gesture.

Wade, however, narrowed his eyes back at Dan, then nodded. “Okay. You know what? Let’s fight. Clearly you need to bash something out, and I could use a good fight with someone who can actually hurt me.”

PJ snorted softly.

“Hey,” Pat protested, looking hurt. “You’ll be getting plenty of that.”

But Wade had already drawn his sword, and was walking towards Dan. PJ obediently retreated to the other side of the two nobles, sending long-suffering looks towards the King’s Protector.

Pat just shrugged helplessly.

A long moment seemed to stretch between the two nobles, their eyes meeting with identical amounts of determination and annoyance at the whole situation. 

Wade moved first--he didn’t lighten the blow at all, and Pat winced. He was still using the sword Molly had made for him, all these years later, and it had been known to straight up shear through regular swords when he put that kind of weight behind it.

Metal rang out against metal as Dan blocked the blow with his own sword. Well, one of his swords. Pat wasn’t quite sure when Dan had picked up dual swords instead of dual daggers (well, it had been after the Entertainer, he knew that much), but Wade didn’t have experience defending against that, so it was a bit worrying.

The dust hung in the air for a moment, and then the duel began in earnest. Neither Wade nor Dan were actually trying to kill the other, or neither of their Protectors would have allowed them to continue, but they certainly didn’t have any reservations about getting hurt.

And because of that, and because both of them were experienced fighters but one of them slightly more experienced than the other, the duel was over in about ten seconds flat: Dan pinned Wade’s sword with one of his and, when Wade made as if to twist his sword to push Dan’s away, brought his other sword at Wade’s legs.

He stopped before he seriously hurt Wade, but the edge of his sword still cut through trousers and nicked Wade’s calf.

Wade scowled. “You didn’t need to actually draw blood.”

“It was a duel, your majesty,” Dan said dryly. “Should I remind you of the other common ending?”

“Please don’t make me fight you,” Pat said wearily. “I’d really rather not make this messy.”

“Don’t worry,” Wade said quietly, eyes searching Dan’s. “He’s had enough.”

Dan let out a long sigh and nodded, sheathing the sword that didn’t have Wade’s blood on it and rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Yeah. I have.”

“You want to talk about it?” Wade asked.

Dan absently wiped his remaining sword on his trouser leg before sheathing it as well. “Do you want that healed?” He gestured to the cut on Wade’s leg.

Wade shrugged. “I can heal it.”

Dan just shook his head and sort of twitched his fingers at Wade’s leg, humming a single note. Instantly, the pain disappeared.

Wade looked down at his leg and raised an eyebrow. It was difficult to see under the small amount of blood that had accumulated from the cut, but it was most definitely healed.

Dan hadn’t been able to do that last year.

Wade looked up and narrowed his eyes at Dan, reaching into the magic as he did so. He couldn’t see it like Gar could, but he still got a pretty decent feel from running mental fingers over it.

And Dan’s magic--well, it was significantly more powerful than it had been the last time Wade had bothered to check.

“Come, Lord Howell,” Wade said, sheathing his own sword. “Let’s talk.”

A quick gesture for Pat and PJ to give them some privacy, and Wade began moving.

Dan followed easily enough, though now that he wasn’t immediately involved in swinging swords at someone, Wade got the chance to get a good look at him. He seemed simultaneously more haggard and more confident than a year ago. Some of that must have been from war preparations, and some from his increase in magical abilities, but... all of it? Surely not.

“How’s Luna?” Wade asked. “How’d she find the trip?”

“Incredibly boring.” Dan chuckled softly. “Everywhere she looked, though, there was wonder in her eyes.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe she turns fourteen next month.”

“I have a sneaking suspicion she’s going to be a terrifyingly strong mage as an adult. She’s too much like her parents for anything else.” Had it really been fourteen years since Matthias had walked into the meeting rooms, obviously delighted, and announced her birth?

“Oh, trust me,” Dan said, “she’s already terrifying. PJ says she’s already more skilled than Phil was when they met--and Phil was an adult then.”

“Oh dear.”

The two were silent until they reached the gardens, where Dan’s breath caught and he let out a long sigh. A glance at him proved he was looking slightly away from the vast majority of the visible garden, eyes closed.

“You still miss him, don’t you?”

Dan’s shoulders slumped, and he opened his eyes before surveying the gardens wearily. “Yeah. Especially this time of year. It’s never gotten any easier to not have him by my side for this.”

Wade sighed, twisting his wedding ring around his finger. “I have an idea what that’s like.”

Dan glanced over, but just clasped Wade on the shoulder before the two began moving again, this time in silence.

They eventually came to a stop in the Wolf Gardens, at one of the pools. This one had just one statue on the edge.

Dan sighed and dropped to sit next to the statue, looking at it for a long minute. Wade settled more slowly next to him and stared at the water instead. The statue, he knew well enough. It was of Gar, as the first Captain of the Wolf Guard, crouching and looking into the water. The statue itself had regular stone eyes, but if one looked in the water at the statue’s reflection, at the bottom of the pool were two set pieces of colored glass: one red and one blue. It was hard to see unless you were looking for it, but...

It had been Molly’s idea.

“So,” Wade said simply, “I assume you found out not too long ago?”

“Three months ago, actually,” Dan admitted. “It’s been hard to process. Doesn’t feel real, honestly.”

“Oh?” Wade leaned forward and dangled his hand into the pool. “How so?”

Dan snorted and held up a finger. “Well, let’s start out with the fact that in my first arranged marriage, I was not expected to have sex with my spouse for the purpose of creating a child.”

“That’s fair.”

Finger two went up. “Let’s not forget that both Amanda and I have been married before, and that neither of us love the other.” Dan flicked up another finger. “We honestly weren’t expecting this to happen.” And another finger. “There’s a war right around the corner and I’ve barely gotten adjusted to the fact that I’m a necromancer, much less to the fact that it’s making my healing magic come more easily than ever.” And the fifth finger on that hand. “I’m not-” Dan’s breath caught. “I don’t know if I can do this, Wade.” He buried his head in his hand. “I really don’t know.”

Wade put a comforting hand on Dan’s shoulder. “You’ll make it through.”

“I...” Dan shook his head and flopped onto his back to stare at the empty blue sky. “How am I supposed to do this, Wade? It was one thing raising Dil, and it’s been another thing helping raise Luna. But this?” He gestured at the empty sky. “It’s like the gods are laughing at me.”

“What makes you say that?”

Dan was silent for a long minute. When he finally did speak, it was with a sigh. “This was exactly the thing I was most scared of when Avalier married me off. Did you know that?”

Wade shook his head. “You’ve never spoken to me much about the experience.”

Dan gestured wildly before letting his arm drop to the side. “Just- being married to a woman I don’t love, and now there’s going to be a baby involved. I’ve never raised a child from infancy. How am I even supposed to do that?” Dan’s breathing caught again, and his chest began to heave. “There’s a war coming!” Dan cursed. “How am I supposed to protect them? I can’t lose them. I can’t.”

“You’ll be there with them both during the war,” Wade said softly. “That’s the best you can do.”

Dan swallowed. “And you?”

Wade sighed, flopping down next to Dan and setting his crown on his chest. “I can’t lose them either. Molly or the twins. Even though I’ve never met them, they’re still my children, and-” He swallowed. “And if keeping them away and never meeting them is what keeps them safe, it’s what I’ll do. It hurts. I’ll admit that much. But the thought of any of them being in danger?” Wade shook his head. “I can’t.”

The two laid there for a long moment, until a bitter laugh bubbled out of Dan.

“Look at us,” Dan said. “We’re a complete mess. How do we even function?”

“One day at a time.” Wade sighed. “One day at a time, desperately clinging to the hope that it’s going to get better.”

Another pause.

“Will it?” Dan asked softly.

“I have to believe so. If not for myself, then I have to for the kingdom.” Wade sighed and slowly sat up. “Has anyone told you you smell like you’ve been practicing in the training courtyards all morning?”

“It’s not my fault nobody else has shown up yet and I had to entertain myself.”

“Uh-huh.” Wade made a face. “Go take a bath. Please.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yes, to clarify any confusion--there has been almost an entire year since the ending of the last one, and it's just slipped away in preparations. Nothing dramatic happened, besides everyone getting more stressed, but, as mentioned in this chapter, at least one very important thing happened.
> 
> Another note: I do realize the whole thing between Dan and Amanda would never happen. I'm not suggesting it would. I don't think anyone thinks that, but I'm just making sure--that particular bit exists solely because of the rules of the world, and would not otherwise.


	3. An Unexpected Guest

The meetings began smoothly, though there was no denying how much everyone had changed in the last year. There was the regular excitement of seeing each other, of course, and the exchange of stories that were more ridiculous than not, and the familiar feeling of ease that was so noticeably missing these days. Amile had small sketches to hand out to everyone of her and Joshua’s new child, left with him for the duration of the trip, and there was no denying how much everyone was smiling about that.

There was curiosity, too, directed at the two new faces. Luna and Evan, MatPat’s eldest, were both turning 14 over the course of the summer, and had come for their official introduction to court.

Both of them were sticking fairly close to the people they knew, though it took probably an hour, tops, for the two to start showing off their magic to the other.

MatPat just sent Dan an amused look.

The most surprising addition, though, was not someone expected to show his face.

Ripples ran through the room as Pat and Wade walked into the room, followed closely by Gar, Bea right on his heels. JP and Amile had known, seeing as Gar had traveled with them, but all the other faces around the table stared at them in shock.

“Gar!” Evan said brightly. “You’re not dead!”

Gar laughed. “No, kid. It’ll take more than that to keep me down.”

Evan grinned broadly, even as Luna blinked and narrowed her eyes at Gar. She was clearly thinking, but it was hard to know exactly what she was thinking about.

“I didn’t know you were coming,” MatPat said, gaze flicking between Gar and Wade in confusion. “I thought you were with the Guardians still.”

Gar shook his head, clasping his hands behind his back. “I have to learn how to use Tapestry again. I got to Septimal just in time for JP and Amile to leave, though, so I just tagged along.”

“How’s Molly?” Cry asked. “And the twins?”

“The twins are a handful,” Gar said wryly. “They really wanted to come with me. At least, I assume that’s what they were babbling on about when I left. They also could have been asking me for a bedtime story about going on adventures. Not sure which.”

Wade took his regular seat, hand drifting to his pocket. “Gar gave me a drawing of them.”

“Greenscale figured you’d like to know what they look like, since I can’t exactly pass that on.” Gar spread his hands.

Pat slid into a chair next to Wade and watched people, aware he was smiling broadly. It was great having Gar back, even for just the summer. Gar wouldn’t be resuming any of his duties, since he was supposed to be incognito, but still.

Pat had missed seeing him around.

“You’re growing your hair out,” Amile said.

Gar chuckled nervously and touched said hair. “Not too much. It’s just a hassle to try and keep it short when I can’t even see to cut it.” His fingers rested on the side of his blindfold. “Plus, it helps keep the knot on this covered.”

“Hey, Gar, we stuck a chair in your usual place,” Pat said, stretching his legs out and putting his feet on the seat of said chair. “You can find that, right?”

“I can.” A pause, as Gar’s eyebrows lowered slightly. “Take your feet off that. You’re gonna trip me.”

Pat sat up straight. “How’d you know that?! You can’t see.”

“No, but Snow can.” Gar shook his head. “I don’t know why he chose to spare me from tripping into you  _ now _ and not  _ earlier, _ but whatever, I guess.”

Pat snorted. He’d almost had to throw a chair in front of Gar earlier to make him trip, and getting cursed at had most definitely been worth it.

“Since you’re here,” Dan said slowly, “should I introduce you?”

Wade smiled, a bit sadly. “Yeah, let’s meet the new faces.”

“Right.” Dan gestured to Luna. “This is Luna, Heiress of the Fourth Realm. She’s a bright girl who I simply cannot get to stay inside for more than a few hours at a time.” He took a deep breath, as if bracing himself. “She’s got plant magic.”

Wade nodded, and while his expression remained the same, a flash of grief ran through his and Pat’s bond. Phil’s absence still left a hole in both their hearts, and likely would for quite some time.

Pat couldn’t even imagine how it must be for Dan.

“And this is Evan, Heir to the Sixth Realm,” MatPat said, grinning broadly as he set his hand on Evan’s shoulder. “He’s far too smart for his own good and gets into more trouble than I’m honestly comfortable with, but he’s made it so far, so that’s good.”

“I feel loved,” Evan said dryly.

MatPat laughed. “I couldn’t have asked for a better son.”

Evan flushed, but a wide smile still flicked across his face.

“Welcome to court, Heirs,” Wade said. “I imagine you’ve heard enough about everyone at the table to know who they are. And I won’t ask you random, significant questions.” He paused. “Much.”

Evan and Luna made faces.

“So,” Wade said, settling more comfortably in his seat, “what’re the big updates?” He paused. “This is the point in time where I randomly choose someone to go first.”

“Yeah,” JP snorted. “Randomly. Not like it’s been me the past four years.”

Wade grinned. “JP, why don’t you go first.”

JP grumbled softly, making Cry snort at whatever he’d said, then sighed. “See?”

“You basically volunteered.”

JP rolled his eyes. “Yeah, sure, whatever.” He shrugged. “So far, all the refugees I’ve gotten have settled in well. It’s a bit of a strain, yeah, and there have been minor problems, but nothing major so far.” He made a face. “Uh, Gar arrived to talk it out with Tapestry, but I think that’s been put on hold for the summer. I guess we’re just… exposing Gar to it, or something.” He paused. “Decent exposure, of course.”

Gar spluttered softly. “What else would it be?”

JP shrugged. “I never know with you.”

_ “You _ never know with  _ me?!” _

JP grinned. “I missed having you around.”

Gar opened his mouth to say something and promptly shut it again. He paused, then nodded to himself. “Go jump in a lake.”

“Did you just… censor yourself?”

“I’m not allowed to swear around the twins. I figured I might as well play it safe around the teens.”

“Dan swears all the time,” Luna pointed out. “He’s not  _ supposed _ to swear around me. But he does.”

“Getting Dan to stop swearing would require a force of nature that doesn’t exist,” PJ said simply.

Dan gave him a flat look. “It’s not impossible.”

PJ  _ mmhmm _ -ed softly, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

“Things are much the same for me as JP,” MatPat said. “I’ve been doing research on the rogue dragon, though, since I’ve ended up with quite a few eye-witness accounts of it.”

Gar sat up straight at that. “Oh?”

“Reports say it has ice breath.” MatPat frowned. “Most of the people I talked to said it has very pale scales, almost like they were bleached, except that they look blue when the light hits them right. One fellow I talked to, though, said that blue was specifically a teal.”

“Teal?” Gar asked softly.

“Teal,” MatPat confirmed.

“Does anyone know what they might look like in a human form?”

MatPat shook his head slowly. “Nobody’s seen it. Or, at least, nobody’s seen it and lived to tell the tale.” He paused, frowning slightly at Gar. “Why? Does it matter?”

“It might.” Gar sighed, then set his hand on his chest, where his medallion should be. “I need to talk with Snow about it first before I say anything.”

“Come on,” Pat said softly. “Tell us something. We can’t work with nothing.”

Gar sighed, burying his face in his hand for a minute. When he did speak, it was unhappily. “Snow… just confirmed what I thought.” He sighed again and raised his head, as if looking up. “Bluescale has two siblings: Copperscale, who left heading south about 950 years ago, and Tealscale, who went west a couple decades after that.”

“Teal. I see. Do you think this rogue dragon is that Tealscale?”

Gar shook his head, then hesitated, then sighed. “Here, why don’t you just… talk to Snow yourselves.”

“Aren’t you two stuck sharing a body, though?” JP asked.

“Mostly. Not quite entirely.” Gar paused, then glanced in Wade’s direction. “Permission to bring a shade into this conversation? He’s already been listening, but his physical form?”

Dan looked over. “I- necromancy?”

Gar shook his head. “Not quite. Snow came back of his own volition, so it’s a bit more difficult than that.”

“Don’t do anything irreversible,” Wade warned.

“Of course,” Gar said simply, standing.

It was unnerving, to see shadows seemingly materialize out of Gar—first fingers, then hands that grabbed onto his shoulders, and then there was an entire torso just hanging off the back of him.

“Snow!” Amlie said, smiling broadly.

“I’ve been here,” Snow complained. “so I’ll be fast—Gar and I can’t keep this up for long”

Wide eyes around the table stared at Gar, and Snow.

“Tealscale is, or at least  _ was _ Bluescale’s sister. we met. her scales were a very distinct teal, none of this ‘in the right light’ business” Snow wrapped his arms around Gar’s neck. “but-  _ but- _ it’s possible this is Tealscale’s child. we don’t know what happened to her, after all. if it is, though, I have to have a long talk with Bluescale, because out of a minimum of three parents, at least one of them should stopped this before it even became a problem”

“Did they die?” Dan asked.

“it’s hard to kill a dragon, but...” Snow sighed. “they can get sick, and it certainly is possible for that to kill them. old age, but that shouldn’t have been a problem--Tealscale would be Bluescale’s age”

“Do you know what would have caused the dragon to act like this? Don’t they normally stay fairly secluded?” MatPat asked.

Snow lifted a spectral hand in a sort of shrug. “not really? I’m not a dragon, despite all the time I’ve spent with them. it never really came up. as I said earlier, I’ll have to talk with Bluescale to get some answers”

“And if this rogue dragon is related to Bluescale?”

Gar shook his head, crossing his arms. “I’ll still have to kill them.”


	4. A Quiet Goodbye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is sad.

Gar didn’t know his way around his old apartments in the palace anymore. In the first two steps in, he managed to kick two heavy things (shelves? storage chests?) and have Bea desperately guide him away from three more things.

Ultimately, though, he did find his way to his old bed.

Sitting on it felt strange. He was used to his bed with the Guardians now, true, and sleeping on the ground for a month to travel here didn’t help, but... it was still  _ technically _ his bed.

Soft padding sounded on the floor, and Bea borked softly in greeting.

Gar lifted his head, only to have a nose sniff his leg.

“...Dante?”

A familiar tongue ran over his fingers.

Gar grinned broadly. “Dante!”

Dante set a paw on Gar’s foot, then moved as if trying to jump up, but didn’t.

Gar’s smile faded as he realized what was happening. He quietly looked at the magic, and at Dante, and his shoulders dropped.

Then he slid off the bed and Dante climbed into his lap before licking his nose and blindfold.

“It’s okay, Dante,” Gar murmured, trying to keep his voice steady. “It’s okay.”

His hands ran over Dante’s fur until they found his favorite scratching spots, and then Gar scratched Dante until he laid down in Gar’s lap.

“I’ve missed you, you know,” Gar said softly. “Bea is great, but she’s not you.” He snorted softly. “That’s because she’s Bea.”

The only response was a soft  _ wuff  _ from Dante.

Gar smiled sadly, though his blindfold was starting to get wet with tears.

“You’ve missed a bunch while I’ve been gone.” Gar slid Dante off his lap and laid down on the floor next to him, only to have Dante put his head on Gar’s chest.

Gar turned his hand to gently running along the fur on the back of Dante’s head, and down his back, and on the one leg that had been placed within easy reach.

And like that, they stayed, Gar telling Dante of all the things that had happened. About the gryphon kits, and dying. About being a shade, about coming back. Fighting to get better. The delightful way the twins would laugh, and how he thought Dante would like them. About the dragon eggs, and the pools, and the general peaceful air that stayed with the dragons.

He spoke about Molly, and how much she missed Wade and Primus. How awkward things were between them because he was definitely helping to raise the twins but he wasn’t related to them, and how was he supposed to protect her when magical beings attacked him on the assumption he was a demon?

He talked about how much he wished he got to lead a normal life sometimes, to not be involved in a war or with anyone trying to kill him or Molly. 

He briefly mused over the idea of finding someone to date and marry and settle down with, like Snow had suggested, now that he could do so for love and not duty, and if it was really too late for him to do something like that. He’d sort of gotten to do it before, but... that had been for duty, not love.

He talked about how good it was to hear the voices of the other Protectors, how good it was to smell the difference in the air between Septimal and Primus. How it was nice for it to be summer and warm, and how Primus was still even warmer than Septimal would ever be.

He talked about practicing all of his magic, and learning he was the one to hold the title of Dragonslayer, about how he didn’t know what it meant. How he wasn’t sure it even mattered if he couldn’t remember how to kill a dragon if he couldn’t even pick up Tapestry to begin with.

He talked about how hopeful he was for the future of the Realms, how the magic was healing, how everything was thriving.

He talked about how scared he was that all of it was going to disappear if the Land of the Squirrels lost their fight.

He worried about the war just being a way to buy time until he’d figured out how to use Tapestry again.

He admitted he wasn’t sure if he was going to survive the war or not. He’d already fought so much in life, after all, what if this battle was his last?

Gar talked, and he talked, and he talked, until Dante went still under his fingertips as he drifted into sleep.

Gar talked and he talked and he talked until his voice was hoarse and cracking.

Gar talked until he couldn’t talk any more because Dante had stopped breathing, eased by Gar’s presence once again.

And then he cried.

He’d known it was coming. He had. It had been nearly fourteen years since he’d gotten Dante as a little pup, and dogs didn’t live as long as humans did. Gar had learned that lesson many times over.

That never made it hurt any less.

Gar gently wiggled out from under Dante’s still form and bumbled to his feet. He couldn’t see Bea looking between Dante and Gar before hesitantly walking after Gar, but he did hear her soft whimpers.

“I know, girl,” he murmured, voice thick with tears, “I know.”

Gar reached his magic towards Pat, barely able to control it enough to direct it there. He was too distraught--he really shouldn’t be using his magic at all. But he needed to.

He couldn’t take care of Dante alone.

When Pat finally came, slipping away once he was able to get a member of the royal guard to take his place following Wade around, his arms wrapped around Gar and pulled him close, letting him sob into his shoulder.

When Gar’s tears were spent, and Pat’s comforting murmurs had faded to a loose embrace, Gar swallowed hoarsely and pulled away.

“You okay?” Pat asked.

“I- I need help burying him.”

“Did you have some place in mind?’

“Next to my dad.”

It was a long ways out--probably not somewhere Pat could just help Gar go at the drop of a hat.

“Okay. I’ll let Wade know.”

Gar’s eyes filled with tears once more--hadn’t he cried enough already?--but he nodded.

“While I’m at it, I’ll grab something to wrap Dante in. Did you want something specific?”

Gar shook his head. “I’ll go talk to Cry.”

“You sure?”

Gar nodded. “He’s the best at those kinds of spells.”

Pat’s hand lingered on Gar’s shoulder for a moment before he moved away. “Okay.”

Gar sat in silence for a long minute before dragging himself up and towards the door. “Come on, Bea. Take me to Cry.”

Bea borked softly, sadly, but nudged her lead onto Gar’s foot before leading him down the halls.

It wasn’t far, he knew. He was close to the royal quarters, and they were just around the corner from the visiting nobility quarters.

“Oh, hello Gar,” Cry’s soft voice said suddenly. “Bea made a beeline towards me when she saw me.”

“I-” Gar swallowed. “Can I ask a favor?”

“Depends on the favor.”

“Dante... I need something to bury him in. He-”

“Oh.” A pause. “Yeah. I can help with that. It won’t be pretty, but... you’re not really asking for pretty, are you.”

“I just... don’t want anything to dig him up.”

“I can do that. Come on. You can sit with me.”


	5. Father

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dante is buried, and Gar's past comes into question.

The forests north of Primus were quiet, the silence broken only by the soft crunch of the ground under the horses’ hooves. Not even birds could really be heard.

Pat looked over his shoulder at Gar and frowned. Of course Gar was sad, and of course Gar couldn’t see to ride--they’d had to tie a lead from Gar’s horse to Pat’s--but he hadn’t expected his friend to look so... helpless. Between holding the cloth wrapped around Dante in his lap and his head hanging, he looked incapable of action.

And that seemed impossible.

“Gar?” he finally said softly. “We’re almost there. It’s even more overgrown than the last time we were here.”

Gar lifted his head. “I can carry him there.”

“You sure?”

Gar nodded.

“Okay.”

It was slow, helping Gar dismount with Dante in his arms and then leading him across the uneven ground and very uneven tree roots and rocks to the now-familiar dome. It was even more broken down since Pat had brought Wade here, but that was the way of life. 

“We’re here.” Pat looked around. “There’s not really a clear spot for us to dig a grave.”

“We don’t need much.” Gar sighed, gently placing his bundle on the ground and cautiously stepping away. “I’ll sniff out a spot.”

“Sniff?”

It only took a moment for Gar’s wolf form to be standing there, and Pat gasped softly when he saw the deep scars running down Gar’s face and eyes.

Gar just stepped forward and started smelling at the ground.

Pat settled next to the Dante bundle and watched. It was a slow process, so there was no point in standing and waiting.

With nothing else to do as Gar found a spot that satisfied him and started digging it out with his paws, Pat’s attention turned to the tomb. He’d never been able to read the words engraved on the marker--they’d long been worn illegible--but he knew the name was somewhere in the library, in the archives section. He’d found it once, when he had been wandering the library while Wade did his studies. At the time, he’d known who the king had to have been, and so he hadn’t been shocked when he’d found one of the two names of the king’s children completely struck out. That had been the name of the younger, the son, the one who fell to become a demon.

These days, he went by Gar.

Pat’s gaze flicked to his friend, who seemed to be inspecting the hole somehow.

How easy it would have been for the two of them to never meet. If Gar hadn’t become a demon that fateful day, he would have ultimately become king--his older sister had died in the war, after all, and he was next in line. He would have lived out his days a thousand years ago, and died long before Pat was even born.

What would the Realms have been like if that had happened? They wouldn’t have lost so much progress when the Empire took over. They might have had quite a bit of the machinations Bossatron did, though that sort of thing never really seemed to fit the Realms’ style. How strong would it have been today? Would the Suzerain war have happened? Would this Adroy war have happened?

Maybe not. Maybe the Realms would be better off in that other world.

Pat was glad he had Gar by his side through this, though--even if he wasn’t literally by Pat’s side.

Gar whined softly, and Pat looked over to see him padding close. Gar nudged the Dante bundle with his nose and whined again.

“I got him,” Pat said softly, standing and scooping up the bundle.

Gar nodded and trotted back to the hole, booping the ground with his nose.

Pat obediently placed Dante in the hole.

To his surprise, Gar immediately began covering the body, taking care to smooth the dirt on top as soon as he was done.

And then he was Gar again, hands resting on the gentle mound.

“Gar?” Pat asked, confusion showing in his voice. “Did you want to do rites for him?”

“I have a specific set in mind.” Gar stood, a bit shakily, and placed his hand on the stone tomb. “They’re old.”

“Oh. What do you need me to do?”

“I need a circle over his grave.” Gar stepped back.

“How big?”

“Enough to cover all of it.”

Pat stepped forward, using the tip of his sword as a tool to draw in the dirt. Was this good for his sword? No, not at all. Molly would chew him out if she saw him doing this, in fact. But it was convenient, and sharpening it again later would give him something to do when Wade whined about the war when they were in private.

“Now what?”

“A pattern goes in it.”

“I... need to know the pattern.”

“I know.” Gar set his shoulders and lowered his head, allowing Snow to materialize out of him.

Snow fully formed, to Pat’s surprise. He briefly looked at the tomb, gave it a soft pat, and then traced out the pattern on the ground, murmuring instructions to Pat as he did so.

“You’re not going to pass out on me on the way back, are you?” Pat asked suspiciously, though he complied with the markings.

Gar smiled weakly. “I hope not.”

“we’ll see,” Snow said noncommittally.

When the diagram was done to Snow’s satisfaction, Pat was left staring at it in quite a bit of discomfort.

“Gar?” He looked over as Snow dissolved back into his friend. “This looks like a summoning circle.”

Gar snorted softly. “It’s not. I’ve seen plenty, trust me.” He sighed, slowly sinking to the ground, face a bit washed of color. “Summoning circles, at least demon ones, are the traditional pentagram.”

Pat looked at the diagram at their feet. It looked rather more like a compass than a pentagram, that was for sure.

“This... well, this is something I haven’t seen in a long time.” Gar sighed, leaning back against his father’s tomb. “Each of the gods have their own symbols. This is Sesz’s.”

Pat blinked. The deity of travel? That was an unusual choice. “Why do you know theirs?”

Gar smiled faintly. “A wide variety of reasons.”

Pat narrowed his eyes. “That’s not an answer.”

Gar hummed softly, though it was clear he was starting to drift into sleep--or maybe unconsciousness. Pat had clearly underestimated how much energy it took from Gar to have Snow have an actual form. 

“You should look it up in the library when we get back.” Gar said. A long pause, and then he pushed himself forward with a grunt. “Put my hand in the middle of the diagram.”

Pat obeyed.

When Gar opened his mouth, Pat was expecting some kind of prayer or platitudes, definitely some kind of last rites--in the modern tongue or in the one Gar grew up speaking, it didn’t matter.

Instead, Gar said, “Hey Sesz. It’s me. His name is Dante. You’ll like him. Dae might too.”

Pat stared at Gar in confusion. He’d heard lots of last rites before, and lots of prayers to any number of the deity. Never had he heard someone speak so casually in any of them.

And, yeah, this was Gar, but... he’d always followed the protocols before, so... what?

“Also it’s almost been a hundred years, so you should probably think about that whole business.” Gar snorted softly, as if amused by something. “If you even want to keep that deal going.”

A... deal? Gar had a deal? With the deity of travel?

And it involved something every hundred years?

Pat just stared at Gar.

Gar moved his hand off the diagram and slumped into the tomb again.

“I forgot how exhausting that was as a  _ demon, _ and ugh.” Gar made a face. “I’m gonna need help getting up to go back.”

“Are- Gar, did you-” Pat stared at his friend helplessly. “Did you just offer to sleep with a god?”

“At a burial? No.” Gar’s head dropped back against the stone. “I do have some sense of decency.”

“Gar-” Pat blinked again, standing. “And- Dae? Who- Did you shorten the name of the demon deity? Are you on a first name basis with the demon god?”

Gar snorted softly at that. “I was a demon prince, Pat.”

“Yeah, but still. The dragons don’t even do that.”

Gar just shrugged slightly, but simply said, “I’m ready to go back.”

Pat carefully stepped over the circle--disturbing these things rarely went well--and helped Gar up. Gar was surprisingly steady on his feet for someone who’d just done three magic-heavy spells, but Pat made sure to stick close to him anyway.

“Should I ask why you wanted Dante buried here?” Pat asked as Gar slowly pulled himself onto his horse.

“I think Dad would have liked him.” Gar slumped heavily in his saddle. “He’s a lot like a corgi we had when I was younger.” A pause. “Which is why I named him after him, but...”

“Oh.” Pat patted his horse gently and began moving. “Do you remember your dad much? The history books don’t speak very kindly of him.”

“I remember enough to know he was a good man.” Gar laughed a bit bitterly. “And I know history speaks even less kindly of me.”

“Your name was scratched out from the history books.”

“That’s probably for the best,” Gar admitted wearily. “I wasn’t all that useful as a prince, and I did a lot of harm to the Realms. Snow is the only person to remember that name now, and I wouldn’t even recognize it if he used it. I’m very thoroughly Gar.”

“You saved the Realms too, you know.”

Gar smiled softly. “Yeah. It took a long time, though, and if Snow and my wife hadn’t kept Ryl from me, the royal line would have ended that night, and things would have been a lot worse.”

“Ryl?”

Gar was silent for a long time before slowly removing his blindfold and turning his unseeing eyes to the sky.

“I thought the royal line  _ did _ end that night, Gar. No generations are recorded after that until the first queen after the Empire fell. Who’s Ryl?”

Gar blinked slowly. “Ryl was my daughter. Amaryllis. She was born while I was off at war, and Snow and my wife chose to hide her from me and from the world. When- when I killed all the nobility, I-” Gar swallowed. “That was the first time I ever felt the agonizing pressure of demonic orders, and it took everything I had to have Ryl’s nurse run with her. Snow was already dead by then, but... he took them north, to the Guardians. And when Ryl’s nurse died, he kept going with her. I... I had him trapped in a dead and decomposing body, Pat, and he still just- he gave everything for Ryl to survive.”

“What was Ryl like?”

“I don’t know. I never spoke to her. I only ever saw her once, for a few seconds.” He smiled wryly. “Snow is telling me she was a good woman, and would have been a good queen, and knowing that is comforting, but I wish I’d have been able to meet her myself.”

“You know, I knew you had to have been married, and had a kid, since you’ve mentioned that before, but... I didn’t realize it was so long ago.”

Gar shrugged. “I’ve been around longer than Blackscale has.”

“You’re really old.”

“I’ve been around longer than Daemone has.”

Pat narrowed his eyes at his old friend. “I’m pretty sure all of the gods are older than either of us. Daemone’s been mentioned in stories for at least seven or eight thousand years.”

Gar raised his eyebrows. “Right. You wouldn’t know about that.”

“What?”

Gar sighed and seemed to glance over. “A little before the Empire fell, the Soulstealer killed the original Daemone, the original demon god. He wanted to take his place, but,” Gar smiled wryly, “as it turns out, you have to have at least one deity parent to do that, so that failed. It was one of the reasons the Empire fell--all the demons were so shaken and disorganized and scrambling for control and killing each other that they were too busy to bother helping the Empire.” He stretched slightly. “Made things easier for me to help my many-times-great-granddaughter wreck the Empire.”

“So you did help destroy the Empire?”

“Oh yes.” Gar grinned viciously. “It was great fun.”

“...Your demon is showing.”

Gar snorted. “Snow would like me to point out that he was the one who managed to loosen the demonic orders on me, so a great deal of credit is owed to him.”

“He did a lot in his life. Or, death.”

“He did.”

“So- wait.” Pat frowned, trying to align this new information. “So if Daemone is dead, why is there a section dedicated to him in the temples?”

“Because he was replaced. Daemone is the youngest of the deity, by far, but they’re just as powerful as the old Daemone.”

“They have the same name?”

“It’s almost a title.”

“And you know this new demon deity on a first-name basis?”

“Again, demon prince.”

Pat narrowed his eyes at Gar once more. Something felt a tiny bit off about the way Gar was saying that. Maybe he was overreacting about Gar not meeting his eyes. It’s not like Gar could even see them to meet them, after all.

“Okay.”

They rode in silence for some time, leaving Pat alone to his thoughts and Gar dozing in the saddle.

“Hey, Gar?” Pat finally asked, eyes fixed on the glowing lights of the city ahead of them.

“Hm?” Gar asked.

“What are your plans, when all of this is over?”

“I try not to make plans for after a war.” Gar sighed. “In my experience, those who do tend not to make it to the end of it.”

“That’s depressing.”

“Yes. It is.”

The soft thudding of their horses’ hooves on the dirt road kept them company for a minute.

Then, “I think I want to get married.”

Pat looked over in surprise. “Oh? Have anyone in mind?”

Gar smiled softly. “Maybe.”

“Nice.”

Another pause. “Marriage, huh?”

“I mean, I’ve done it before, before I was a demon. That was a marriage of duty, though.” Gar fidgeted with his now-replaced blindfold. “I’m sure if things had been different, I would have come to love her, but it never got to that point.” He shrugged. “I want to marry for love.”

“That sounds like a good plan.”

A pause.

Pat returned his attention to the woods. “What about kids?”

“I’m most certainly not opposed to it, but I don’t want to force my future wife into something like that.”

“You’d make a good father.”

Gar sighed, and something seemed to be hidden in that sigh. “I hope so. I haven’t exactly been the most ideal one to this point, though.”

“You kept Ryl alive, Gar. That was the best you could do.”

Gar hummed slightly. “People keep telling me that, but I know. It wasn’t Ryl I was talking about.”

Pat looked over in alarm, but Gar offered no further clarification and settled in silence on his horse.

“Gar? You said you didn’t have any demon children.”

Gar smiled faintly. “I don’t.”


	6. Entangled

The somber mood hanging in the air was more than just because of the war, Dan decided, but he couldn’t place what it was. It was certainly messing with him. He hadn’t felt this emotionally heavy since--well, since the last time it had looked like PJ might die.

His headache certainly wasn’t helping.

“How’s mom?” Luna looked up from her studies. How she studied by the dim candlelight this late in the evening, Dan would never know.

“Tired, but fine.”

Luna frowned slightly. “I wish I could help her.”

“So do I, but we can’t go back until the meetings are over.”

Luna frowned more. “Do you really? You’re married to her, but you don’t love her.”

“She’s still my friend, Luna.”

Luna hesitated, then closed her book. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“Why did you and mom decide to have a baby now? Right before the war.”

“It was less of our choice and more of the magic telling us we couldn’t afford to wait any longer.”

Luna made a face. “The magic? It doesn’t talk.”

Dan shrugged, settling more comfortably in his chair. “It does. Not very often, but it does. I expect you’ll hear it once you’re Lady.”

Luna rolled until the couch cushions were completely at her back. “That feels so far away.”

“Hopefully it’s at least a few more decades. Anything sooner than that and it means neither your mother nor I are able to rule.”

“You can say dead.”

Dan sighed, hand drifting to the wedding ring Phil gave him, still hanging around his neck. “No. I can’t. Phil stopped being able to rule nearly two years before he died. We pretended otherwise, because we didn’t want to crush the people’s hopes, but... he most certainly wasn’t well enough to run a Realm.”

“...you ran it all by yourself?”

Dan shrugged. “It had to be done.”

Luna bit her lip. “Just like my mom had to run the Fourth Realm alone.”

Dan nodded, letting his hand drop from his old wedding ring. Instantly, his headache seemed to worsen.

...which was more the pity, because he’d promised Cry they’d have a few drinks once it got later.

Speaking of-

Dan glanced out the balcony door, to where PJ was leaning and watching the training courtyards below. The sun had almost completely set.

He gently brushed his magic over PJ. He was still fairly tired, which wasn’t too surprising, but he seemed to almost be slipping from Dan’s grasp.

That had never happened before.

Dan frowned.

“Peej- you want to come in for the night?”

“Hm?” PJ glanced over, pulling his weight back on the railing. “Oh. Sure, I guess.”

Something  _ very  _ familiar and  _ very _ alarming tugged hard on Dan, hard enough that he was sent tumbling out of the chair in the direction he’d been leaning, and Luna gasped.

“Dan! Are you-”

Dan pushed himself up from the floor, trying to blink away the sudden waves of dizziness. “PJ. Get-”

The sound of a body slumping was all it took for Dan to know PJ was feeling this too.

“He- Dan, I can’t move him.”

“I-” Dan slowly pushed himself up, though he had to pause after each large movement to not pass out. “I’m coming. We- We need help. Something’s not right.”

“What’s going on? Who do I get?”

“It...” Dan hesitated, even as the pull got stronger and stronger. “I don’t know who to get. But- tell them it’s Phil. Patrck, maybe? Gar?”

“Phil? He’s dead.”

“He’s definitely supposed to be.” The words left a foul taste in Dan’s mouth, and he lifted his head to see Luna giving him a dirty look. “I didn’t do anything to him, Heiress. Go get help. I’ll get PJ on the floor and then lay next to him.”

Luna’s eyes flared at the use of her title, but she turned and ran out of the room regardless.

Dan finished dragging himself up and staggered over to PJ, slumped dangerously over the balcony railing.

“Come on, Peej,” Dan managed, digging his hands into whatever purchase they could get on PJ. “Inside.”

PJ stirred at that, but was unable to help Dan drag him inside.

Well, at least he wasn’t completely unconscious. That was something.

Dan didn’t bother getting PJ very far inside the safety of the walls before letting him drop on the ground and then laying down next to him, as he’d promised Luna. 

And then he wrapped his mental hand around his binding with PJ and pulled as hard as he could muster.

PJ’s eyes fluttered open, and he groaned.

“Phil-”

“I know,” Dan responded. “I can feel him too.”

“He- did you?”

“No.”

PJ grunted softly.

Dan wasn’t quite sure how long they’d lain there before his chest started to burn, but it couldn’t have been a good sign.

He did know that it wasn’t too much longer after that that Cry was at his side, snapping orders to unseen guards.

Cry swore softly, putting both hands on Dan to steady the trembling Lord. “What happened?” he demanded.

“I don’t know,” Luna said, her voice shaking nearly as much as Dan. “Dan told PJ to come inside from the balcony, then he pitched out of his chair and PJ slumped onto the balcony, and Dan sent me running for help. You’re the first person I found.”

Cry let out a long breath, gaze flicking between Dan and PJ. Dan was trembling, while PJ was completely still. Both were breathing, which was good. Guards were already running to fetch Wade, and Pat and Gar if they were around. Felix was running from down the hall, so he’d arrive momentarily.

“Did either of them say anything?”

“I- Dan said something about Phil.”

Cry raised his eyebrows and cursed again. “Do you know what it looks like when Dan does necromancy?”

“No. But- it’s blood magic, right? He tends to complain about even little cuts. He hasn’t.”

Cry quietly gave Dan a look-over. “You’re right. I’m not seeing any blood. Smart girl.”

A moment of silence, where Dan’s trembling got worse and PJ remained unmoving, all while Felix grew ever closer.

“What are we going to do?” Luna asked.

“Hopefully, keep him alive.” Cry looked up to see Felix slide into the doorframe. “Grab PJ. I don’t want to make whatever this is worse by separating them.”

“Would it?” Felix said, obediently slipping his arms under PJ and lifting him.

Cry did the same to Dan, grunting under the weight of the taller man.

It was no easy task, getting them the few feet to the couch. It was only a few feet, and Cry’s muscles were burning by the end of it.

“I thought you were moving them to a bed,” Luna said.

Cry laughed breathlessly. “Me? Carry Dan that far? Not happening.”

“You can’t carry an adult?”

“Look-” Cry shook his head, turning his attention to the Dan and PJ pile on the couch. “That’s not the important part right now.” He removed his glove and placed his hand on Dan’s forehead, then frowned and did the same to PJ.

“That can’t be good,” Felix said, moving to stand at the door and look in the hallway.

“They’re both running fevers. But I could have sworn they were both fine earlier today.”

“They seemed fine earlier,” Luna confirmed. “This just happened all of a sudden.”

“Um-” Wade’s voice interrupted, and Cry glanced over his shoulder to see Wade stepping in the room. “What happened?”

As Luna explained it again, Wade frowned and placed his hands on Dan, and then PJ.

“They’re... physically fine?” Wade blinked. “I can’t find anything wrong with them, at least.”

“What about magically?” Cry asked.

Wade made a face. “I can’t really check that. That was always Gar’s thing, but I don’t know if he’s back yet. Why?”

“They were saying something about Phil.”

Wade’s face crinkled more. “I have no idea.” He paused and looked up. “Pat’s on his way now. I can only guess he’s bringing Gar.”

A long moment stretched between them, where the only sound was Dan gasping softly.

“Luna,” Wade finally said, gently herding her out of the room, “why don’t we go talk to MatPat? He might have some idea as to what happened.”

“But- Dan-”

“Will still be here when we’re done,” Wade finished firmly. “Cry will stay with him.”

“O- Okay. If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure, Heiress. Let’s go.”

Then they were gone, leaving Felix standing guard at the door and Cry staring at Dan and PJ.

Hadn’t the two of them been through enough? It wasn’t fair to them. Not that any of what had been happening was fair, of course, but  _ still. _ It was especially unfair to them.

He wasn’t sure how long he stood there, keeping a worried eye on the two, until a soft push from Felix on their bond made him look up just in time for Pat and Gar to walk in the room, Gar looking exhausted and leaning on Pat for support.

Cry once again explained what had happened, and Gar frowned, then his shoulders dropped.

“Gar?” Cry asked hesitantly.

“I don’t know what’s happening, no, but...” Gar sighed. “Snow does, at least a little bit.” He made a face. “Apparently he wasn’t the only one restless enough in the realms of the dead that he tried to get back. Phil was too.”

Pat’s eyes widened, and he crouched next to Dan and PJ. “You think Phil managed to come back? Would that do this to them?”

“Not necessarily, but... maybe?” Gar shifted awkwardly. “I have to look at their tapestries to make sure. It’s possible.”

“Well,” Pat said, gesturing, “go ahead.”

Gar took a deep breath. “Catch me if I pass out.”

“Oof, yeah, maybe you should be careful-”

Gar ignored Pat and opened his eyes to the magic.

Instantly, he gasped.

“I’m guessing that’s bad,” Cry said softly.

Gar swiped his fingers through the projection of magic, tracing the binding between Dan and PJ. “Yeah.” This one was perfectly fine, if one could call “twisted and coiling” perfectly fine. Compared to the rest, though...

PJ’s binding to Phil, and Dan’s binding to Phil, were both completely intertwined. It looked like the individual strands on the magic strings went to the right place, but somehow the two had gotten tangled? And the flows of energy were most definitely interfering with each other, causing a weird sort of backflow.

Snow rumbled softly.  _ “That’s not good.” _

_ “I noticed.” _

_ “No, look down the bindings, to where Phil is.” _

Gar complied, gasping again softly.

_ “That’s supposed to be stretching into nothing, right? Because Phil is dead.” _

The entangled bindings were most definitely not stretching into nothing. They were stretching to something far out of sight and very much in the realms of the living.

_ “That can only mean one thing-” _

“Dan, I just got news that-” Dil’s voice froze, and Gar wished he could see the young Lord’s expression. “I- is he okay?”

“What is it, Dil?” Cry asked.

A pause, giving Gar the chance to close his eyes to the magic and to lean heavily on his knees as the world seemed to wobble despite not being able to see any of it. And just before his energy gave out completely and he dropped into unconsciousness, he heard one very clear thing: 

“Phil- I just got news that Phil’s tomb is empty.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I pulled up the doc with this chapter to look it over to publish this and immediately laughed.
> 
> I'm evil.


	7. A Solution

When Gar woke, it was to a familiar soft hum, though the tune itself was unfamiliar. There might not have even been a dedicated tune, but it felt like there was.

The next thing Gar noticed was that he was most definitely not wearing his blindfold. His fingers instinctively shot to his face and gently brushed over the scars, then slid to the side of his head searching for his blindfold. It had come off in his sleep before, but it was always close by.

The humming stopped.

“It’s on your bedside table,” Greenscale said quietly, tiredly. “It was suffocating you earlier.”

“I-” Gar slowly pushed himself up, groaning at the effort it took. He may have had enough energy to wake, but it definitely didn’t make it easy to move. “Why are we in the same place?”

“Patrck called us here.” A chair creaked, and Greenscale’s hands touched Gar’s shoulder, steadying him. “Between learning about the Adroy dragon and what happened to PJ, he felt it was necessary.”

“How long was I out?” Gar shook his head slightly, trying to rid the remaining heaviness from his mind.

“Twelve or thirteen hours. Certainly not enough to recover from all the magic you spent yesterday.” Greenscale handed Gar a cup, then moved away--sitting down, if the second chair creak was any indication. “I’m surprised you woke this early.”

Gar took a cautious sip, thinking. He knew from experience that it took Greenscale eight hours to fly from their home in the north of the Seventh Realm to Primus. It would have taken at least an hour for Pat to contact any of the Guardians, and then time to explain what was going on and for them to decide to leave--and the situation really must have been dire, if it summoned Greenscale away from the hatchlings. Even then, though, Greenscale couldn’t have been in Primus for more than a few hours.

“Have you rested?”

Greenscale hummed slightly. “No. Blackscale is asleep in the other room, but someone needed to stay with you just in case something went wrong.”

Gar took another sip of his water. “You were worried about that?”

“Snow took a form twice in the course of one day, you talked to a deity, you shapeshifted, and it was an exhausting day for you to boot--emotionally and physically.” Greenscale sighed. “I’m more concerned now, since you’re up.”

“Sorry.”

“No, don’t apologize. It’s not your fault.”

“You flew here. You had to shapeshift to do that, and fly. And you haven’t slept.” Gar started sliding to get out of his bed, but had to stop when his head swam. “I’ll be okay.”

“Gar,” Greenscale said softly. Gar doubted they had the energy to talk any other way. “There’s no point in pushing yourself into collapse. Just rest, and I’ll say what I need to.”

Gar made a face, but held still.

“We’ve gotten news that Phil’s tomb is empty. Over the past few hours, Dil has been receiving updates--some bones they’re guessing were his have been found in the forest and in a river, but nowhere near a complete body.” Greenscale sighed. “This might sound familiar to Snow.”

_ “It does,”  _ Snow said wearily.  _ “In the first few months after the night of the Soulstealer, I was still trapped in a decomposing body. Didn’t smell all that great. After a while, I was stuck to my skeleton, but I couldn’t disconnect myself from it. Things fell off, of course--I have a foot somewhere in the Fifth Realm--and it got awfully difficult to move when everything just sort of wanted to sit in a heap. After five years or so, I had to have Copperscale destroy what remained of my skeleton so I could move freely.” _

“Things fell...” Gar swallowed. “That’s gross, Snow.”

_ “Yep.” _

“Why does this matter? It’s not like-” The realization hit Gar like a brick to the face. “Does- Does this mean Phil is a shade?”

_ “He’d expressed the desire to come back when we were both stuck in the land of the dead,”  _ Snow explained.  _ “I’d been able to keep him from it at the time, and I was hoping that since Piya and Crumpler tried to keep me from returning that they’d do the same to Phil, but... clearly it didn’t work.” _

“Phil came back?”

“As far as we can tell... yes. It wasn’t necromancy. Dan has more sense than to bring his dead husband back to life. He has far too many responsibilities as a Lord to be spending that much energy on someone already dead. Which means Phil is in much the same circumstance Snow was--without the stability of a body to possess, or the nearly boundless energy of a demon prince to draw off of.”

“So what’s going on? Do you know?”

Greenscale’s wince was audible. “Dan and PJ’s bindings with Phil got tangled. As closely as we can tell, when he crossed back over, it caused confusion in the magic, and while we think the bonds go where they’re supposed to, they’re crossing over each other and knotting into each other, and it’s cutting off the return flow of magic--which means Phil is drawing energy from both of them to keep himself here, but isn’t giving them anything in return.”

“Which means...?”

“In order to fully fix it, and not just stabilize Dan and PJ, we’re going to need Phil.”

“...where is he?”

“We don’t know.”

_ “I can find him,”  _ Snow said,  _ “but it would mean you’d have to supply me energy again long enough for me to be a shade to find him.” _

Gar swallowed. “I don’t know if I can manage that, Snow.”

_ “It’s asking a lot, I know, but... I’m the only one who can find him with any amount of speed. With luck, I’ll be done by the end of the summer meetings.” _

“I mean of course I want to help, I don’t want to just let them die, but... I don’t know if I have that much energy to spare.”

“We don’t have much choice,” Greenscale said. “Blackscale thinks they can arrange it so Snow only pulls minimal energy from you, but it would take nearly a full day to make happen. We’re not sure we have that kind of time.”

“It won’t do any good if I die because of this, though.” Gar’s face twisted in a grimace. “I don’t know what to do. Have you talked to Dan and PJ about this?”

“They’re not fully coherent at the moment,” Greenscale admitted. “They’re awake, but it’s hard to have a conversation with them. If Pat hadn’t called us here, it’s quite possible they would have died by now.”

“Do we know what made Phil come back across  _ now, _ rather than right after he died?”

“We don’t.”

_ “He was always very concerned about Dan and PJ. Dan’s distressed enough Phil might have gotten desperate enough to comfort him to pull himself back over. It would be pretty impressive still--it’s incredibly difficult. I almost didn’t manage it.” _

Gar blinked slowly. “Dan distressed? What did I miss?”

“He was never happy with being forced to marry Amanda, much less have a child with her.”

Gar winced. “I’m guessing that’s what’s happening, then.”

“Yes.”

Gar sighed. “I... can’t blame him for being distressed. Doing something you don’t want to because it’s your duty is... hard.”

A surge of soft agreement came from his binding with Snow.

Gar lowered his head to think for a long moment before closing his eyes and sighing. He knew what had to happen. They couldn’t afford to lose Dan, and Dan couldn’t afford to lose PJ.

“You said the spell would take most of a day?” Gar asked.

Snow whined softly, but didn’t argue.

“It’s going to be hard on you,” Greenscale warned.

“It’s okay,” Gar said. “It’s... It’s okay.”

“I’ll go wake Blackscale, then. When they’re ready, they’ll come get you.”

Greenscale’s footsteps left the room, leaving Gar tense in worry of what was to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all can thank a good friend of mine for having a birthday and liking this series, because this chapter update was a sort of birthday present.
> 
> In other news, the reason there haven't been regular updates is because I've been really sick the past couple of weeks, and I just haven't had the energy to write, much less edit and actually update. I'm on a slow mend, but it's an uphill battle considering I still have to do this thing called work and life. All that aside, I'll update again when I'm feeling better enough to feel confident in my ability to continue releasing chapters. In the meantime, you can hit me up on my tumblr, under the same username, if you so desire.


	8. Separation

“Are you sure this is safe?” Wade asked, footsteps suggesting he was walking around. “You have him in a summoning circle.”

“It’s not a summoning circle,” Blackscale said, a bit irritably. They were likely still pretty tired, and very stressed, so it wasn’t necessarily a surprise. “It’s a necromantic stabilizer.”

“A what?” That was Dan--thankfully coherent, after whatever Blackscale had done earlier in the day.

“You heard me,” Blackscale said. “If you’ve seen a medallion, you’ve seen one of these.”

Wade made a distinctly worried sound at that.

“I’m sorry, what?” Dan asked.

Blackscale sighed.

“Has everyone here seen a medallion before?”

Everyone being Wade, Pat, Dan, PJ, Gar, and Blackscale.

Gar just nodded. He’d inspected his thoroughly once he got it.

“Have you ever looked at the back.”

Gar nodded again.

“The back is flat,” PJ said, voice betraying his exhaustion. “That’s not on there.”

“It’s a lot easier to see if you look at the magic in medallions,” Gar said.

“Well, I can’t. Sorry.”

“Gar?” Blackscale interrupted. “Hold out your hands.”

Gar obediently complied, resting his arm on his knees--he was sitting crosslegged on the floor, after all, so there was no point in not doing it that way.

(Wade had complained that Gar would sit while the rest of them had to stand, and Blackscale pointed out that Gar was likely to collapse if he stood for the entire duration of this. Gar hadn’t quite heard Wade’s response, but if Pat’s chuckle was anything to go by, Wade hadn’t been entirely happy to hear that.)

A cool disc was placed in Gar’s left hand, and his fingers automatically curled around it.

Immediately, he froze.

It couldn’t be.

Slowly, he ran the fingers of his right hand over the face of the disc--a little arc at the top for a chain that wasn’t there, a nick in the edge from Tapestry getting a little too close for comfort, the set moon design in the medallion...

“Snow’s medallion?”

_ “Oh,”  _ Snow breathed.  _ “I didn’t know it was still around. I thought it disintegrated when I died.” _

“It is,” Blackscale confirmed.

Gar let out a long breath and closed the medallion between his hands, holding it close.

“Why-” Gar swallowed back the sudden emotions, “why do we need this?”

“It still has some residual energy left in it. Not enough to bring Snow back again-”

_ “Aw, but I want my own body.” _

“-but enough to help stabilize him.” A moment of silence. “What I’m doing with this is making it so Snow draws most of his energy from his medallion, with only a little coming from Gar, until his medallion is drained. That should be... three? four? months from now. Hopefully, that will be enough time for Snow to find Phil and bring him to the Fourth Realm.” And that would need Gar and Dan and PJ, at least, to do.

“The Fourth Realm?” PJ asked. “Why there?”

“In order for me to stabilize Phil, I’m going to need a place with a lot of death and blood embedded into the ground.”

“Oh, so we’ll be meeting them at a Suzerain battle site?”

Blackscale snorted. “Yes.” A pause. “Also a place Gar and Snow very likely have ingrained into their memories.”

“What does that mean?” Wade asked.

“It’s the place Snow died and I became a demon,” Gar said, ignoring the chill that still came over him when he thought of it. “From what I’ve heard, the land is permanently scarred from that night.”

“That was in the Fourth Realm?”

“You know it as the Ecoval Ravines,” Blackscale said.

“Those ravines have been there for a thousand years,” Wade protested. “How-”

“Did you forget how old I am,” Gar interrupted dryly.

Wade made an offended sound.

“What do you mean, the land is permanently scarred?” Dan asked. “Those aren’t natural?”

Gar laughed. “No. They’re what happened after I tore the land open a few times and slammed it back together.”

A long, long moment of silence before everyone spoke at once.

“You  _ what?” _ Pat asked.

“You... can do that?” Wade asked.

“What the ever-loving-” Dan started.

“Excuse me?” PJ said.

Gar just burst out laughing, though he could feel something he strongly suspected to be tears welling up inside of him. Of course Wade wouldn’t know. Gar had been the last royal to be taught the skill--Ryl would have been too young, and nobody would have been around to teach her, so it had been lost with Gar.

So many things had been lost with Gar.

Gar choked back a sob. 

_ “It’ll be okay, Gar,”  _ Snow assured.

_ “I don’t want to lose you. Not again.”  _ The thought of being alone again was odd--and it hurt almost as much as the first time Gar had lost Snow, or the second. He didn’t want to do it a third.

_ “Don’t worry. I’ll come back. And if I can’t, then I’ll wait for you in the realm of the dead.” _ Snow seemed to know more than what he was saying.  _ “Death would be boring without you. I can’t even get drunk to make things interesting.” _

Gar took a deep breath.  _ “I’m holding you to that.” _

“You can move the land?” Wade asked finally.

Gar shook his head, his blindfold growing wet with tears. “No. I could. It’s something only those with royal magic can do. It’s why the Realms used to be called the Changing Lands.”

A long, long moment of silence.

Then:

_ “I  _ can move the land?” Wade sounded horrified at that. “But... earthquakes.”

“It’s dangerous,” Gar admitted. “I only did it because I had to to keep soldiers safe and to kill demons.”

_ “If it hadn’t been a blue moon, I think you would have died from it.” _

“Snow points out it almost killed me to do it as much as I did that night.” Gar grimaced. “I don’t even know how much I did it. It was exhausting, though, that was for sure.”

“There are thirteen major ravines and twenty-odd minor ones,” Dan said quietly. “I assume the major ones are your doing?”

“Probably.” Gar made a face. “I don’t actually remember how many times I opened the ground.”

_ “I lost track,”  _ Snow admitted.  _ “I was trying to keep you alive.” _

“That’s... fair, I suppose.” Dan sighed.

“Is there a way to make Wade not able to move the land?” Pat asked. “I don’t want him causing an earthquake or something when he throws a tantrum.”

“I don’t throw tantrums.”

“No,” Gar said, completely ignoring Wade. “It’s completely intertwined with royal magic. It’s also extremely difficult to do without training--you have to know how the tapestry of the magic lays across the land.”

“Oh. No worries about me doing it accidentally, then,” Wade said. “I can’t see it like you can.”

Gar sighed. “We’ll talk about this later.” He tilted his head slightly to the footsteps walking around him. “Are we ready?”

“Just about,” Blackscale said. They took a deep breath. “Okay. Pat- I need you to stand here.”

“Okay, but why?” Pat’s familiar footsteps went to Gar’s left.

“Because you’re the King’s Protector, and Snow is still a Protector. He won’t be drawing energy from you, but you’ll be a stabilizing point for him.” More footsteps. “Dan, you’re here.”

“Am I providing some sort of link to Phil?”

“You are. Hopefully this’ll make it so Snow will be able to track Phil.”

“Hopefully?”

“This isn’t an exact magic,” Blackscale said apologetically. “And I’ve never personally done it before. Stuff like this doesn’t really come up all that much.”

Dan just sighed.

“PJ, here.” Blackscale continued, now from Gar’s right.

PJ’s footsteps were very blatantly different sounds--one was just the leather of his boot meeting the ground, the other had a significantly heavier sound to it. That must be his prosthetic, then.

“And I’m here,” Blackscale finished from Gar’s front.

“Do we need to do something?” Pat asked uncertainly.

“No. Just stand there.” A pause. “And control your magic, Protector Static. I don’t want to have to power through it.”

“...I always control my magic.”

“You might find it difficult for this.” A pause. “Snow, if you could refrain from starting some kind of storm, that would also be good.”

_ “I haven’t really used my magic to its full extent in over a thousand years,”  _ Snow replied a bit bitterly.  _ “I’d think that shows I know how to control it.” _

_ “You haven’t had the energy to do it in a thousand years,”  _ Gar replied blandly.  _ “Just enough to freeze things.” _

Snow huffed.

“Snow has... he can start storms?” Dan asked. “I thought he just froze stuff.”

“He’s always had storm magic,” Gar said quietly. “He’s best at winter storms, which is how he got his name. It takes a lot of energy to move that much air around, though, and he just didn’t have it while he was a shade.”

“Oh.” A pause. “And you think he might do it after this? He’s still going to be a shade.”

“He’s going to have vastly more energy,” Blackscale said blandly. “And he might be out of practice. I seem to recall stories from my father about him as a toddler.”

_ “Nobody has control over their magic as a little kid,”  _ Snow protested.  _ “People just learn how to use the mirrors and that’s about it. It’s not my fault I dumped eight feet of snow on everything in the summer.” _

Gar whistled softly. “Dang.”

“Did he just tell you one?”

“Something about dumping eight feet of snow during the summer as a kid.”

Dan gasped.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Lord Howell,” Blackscale said, “but all Protectors are very powerful. Royal Protectors are terrifyingly so. For humans, at least.”

“But- how?”

“I haven’t the slightest idea.” Gar could almost hear Blackscale’s shrug. “Now, shush. I need to focus.”

At first, there was nothing. Just silence, and the sound of breathing from around the room.

And then Snow gasped.

Something deep inside Gar, something that was part of him and yet not just his, began to pull away in a way that must be how floor glue felt when one was trying to remove a misplaced tile.

Specifically, he felt like something of him was breaking as Snow was pulled away. Like his body was trying to move with Snow, trying to stretch to keep him safe, keep him protected, but it couldn’t.

And their bond--oh, their bond. They’d been in the same body for two years, practically, and it must have gotten used to it, because the bond stretching out from the rapidly increasing distance was leaving Gar feeling like he’d dislocated or broken something that didn’t have a physical form and couldn’t be healed.

“Gar!” Pat’s voice cut through the pained haze starting to fog Gar’s mind, but he couldn’t bring himself to answer--just lean forward and rest his head on his hands, on Snow’s medallion, trying to steady his breathing.

“Stay put,” Blackscale snapped.

And then the world twisted sharply.

Pat froze as Gar slumped in the middle of the circular array.

“Stay,” Blackscale repeated. “He’ll be okay.”

Pat crammed his hands into his pockets. He could stop this, he could make the pain stop for Gar- but that’d condemn Dan and PJ. They needed Snow. This needed to happen.

So he took a deep breath and focused his gaze on Gar. A sort of shadow seemed to be growing from him--not at all like the way Snow had materialized before. More like a misplaced shadow, swirling across the array but stuck within the confines of the outer circle.

And then, slowly, the shadow began to pull itself together. At first, it just seemed like little mounds of shadow, but it quickly began to gain speed until it was a very distinct form, crouched over as if curled in pain.

But unlike the last time Pat had seen Snow as a shade, or when Snow had been a shade for all those years before, Snow was very distinct. It was possible to see actual muscle definition in his arms, hints of a uniform, long hair loose and pooling over actual fingers.

Pat’s eyes widened. “Woah.”

Snow slowly lifted his head, then slowly stood. He didn’t say anything, just examined his hands, turning them over and flexing them slowly.

Then, “it’s been a long time since I’ve had fingers”


	9. Duchess Pentland

Gar grew gradually aware of the world around him. First was the soft sound of voices nearby. The feeling of being gently wrapped in a light blanket. Bea’s paw resting on his arm.

And the distinct feeling of Snow next to him instead of inside him.

Gar slowly sat up, despite the ache and pain the action brought, and listened. Bea jumped off the bed lightly, paws padding away to do something.

“good morning,” Snow said softly. “I leave in a few minutes, but I wanted to say goodbye”

“You’ll be back,” Gar murmured.

“I’ll try,” Snow corrected. “we have no idea if Blackscale can put me back in your body after this is all over” He paused. “or if that’s even a good idea”

Gar frowned. “It’s fine.”

“that’s not what Wade and Dan said”

Gar blinked. “What?”

“we were talked to about it, remember?” Snow seemed a bit sad. “you’re mortal now--your body is only built to handle one soul. not two. it’s starting to degrade your body. and that’s something I’d really rather avoid”

“Snow-” Gar slid his legs off the bed, “Snow, I know the risks. But you saved me. It’s the least I can do.”

Snow just sighed. “don’t do this, Gar. we both know my fate in the past has been to be alone. it shouldn’t be a surprise that that’s going to be in the future, too”

Gar frowned, that familiar feeling of a buried memory tickling him. “No. We’ll figure  _ something  _ out.” There was a solution to this, he just... didn’t remember what it was.

Snow paused. “if you really think so, then I trust you”

Gar sighed. “Thank you.”

“anyway,” Snow continued, “the international guests have started to arrive. avalier actually sent a representative this year. Dan seems to recognize her. he wanted you awake before she got brought in to the meetings, though”

“Oh boy.” Gar cautiously stood. “Thank you for telling me.” He took a breath. “Good luck. Hopefully this time will be a lot easier than last time.”

Snow snorted. “if anything, knowing I can’t come back to life any more is a reassurance. means I can’t die more”

“Small comforts, I suppose.”

Snow’s ever-constant presence slid away some. “I have to start now. I’ve a lot of ground to cover to find Phil, and there’s no telling just how far he’s gotten”

“It’s only been a few days.”

“there were many times I crossed the entirety of the Realms in a week,” Snow said dryly. “so that really doesn’t narrow it down much”

“Speedy boy.”

“oh yes” Snow drew away more, their bond heavy with reluctance. “take care”

With that, he was gone. Gar could still feel him, of course, but it only took a moment for Snow to be out of the palace entirely.

Bea borked softly, nudging something into Gar’s leg.

“Oh, did you bring me clothes?” Gar bent down and scratched her softly. “Thank you.”

\-----

Gar recognized all the names of the international representatives this year. Jack sent an ambassador, the same one as usual. From the Land of the Squirrels came Tyler Scheid, and according to Pat’s murmurs, he was here to stay until they left to help--that way they could coordinate movements and all that.

And from Avalier was one Duchess Pentland--someone Gar had never met himself, but Snow had mentioned from time to time during the last war.

Still, as it was, as the various nobles were introduced, he could hear her gasp softly as Dil was introduced as the Lord of the Third Realm, and Dan the Lord of the Fourth. She didn’t ask about it then, though.

No, that came later, after the meetings had ended for the day and the nobles were mingling and talking.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Louise said. “I was worried you wouldn’t come.”

The two hugged with little hesitation, PJ noticed.

“This is mandatory,” Dan said dryly. “Otherwise I wouldn’t have.”

“Who’s this?” Louise looked over at PJ.

Dan sighed. “This is PJ. My Protector.”

Louise blinked, looking at PJ. He just dipped his head.

“I thought you didn’t have one,” she whispered to Dan.

Dan’s heart sank. “I didn’t. It’s a relatively new turn of events.” Dan hesitated, then did that thing that meant he was sure he was about to regret what he was about to say. “He used to be Phil’s Protector, but...”

Louise brightened at Phil’s name. “Oh, where is he?”

Nearby, Gar immediately grimaced.

Dan’s face had already dropped down into dismay. “The news didn’t reach Avalier?”

Louise blinked. “What news? Is he not well enough to be here today? I knew he was sick, but-”

“Louise-” Dan swallowed harshly. “Phil died two and a half years ago.”

Louise’s expression immediately fell. “Oh, Dan.” She immediately embraced Dan again, and he let her. “I’d heard rumors that you stepped down from being the Lord of the Third Realm, but I thought it was so you could take care of him. Not because he died.”

“I wish.” Dan mumbled into her shoulder. “I miss him so much.”

“So why did King Barnes introduce you as Lord of the Fourth Realm? Did they need someone to take over and you were most qualified?” Louise asked as Dan pulled away.

Dan’s shoulders slumped even more, if that was actually possible. “It’s more complicated than that.”

“I’m listening.”

Dan rubbed at his temples. “Right. So. I’ve gotten myself into a bit of a mess.” He looked up, frowning. “Basically, once the main months of mourning had passed,” (as Louise glanced at the black band PJ and Dan both still wore on top of their black uniforms), “Avalier told me that I had to go back there, since whatever claim I had to the Realms died with Phil.”

Louise’s expression immediately turned to anger.

“And I... didn’t want to.” Dan made a sour face. “So I came here during the summer meetings two years ago, even though I knew what the solution would be. There’s only so many things they can do to keep me here.” He sighed. “But I really didn’t want to go back. Not when PJ has to follow me everywhere.”

“Right. You said he’s your Protector. How did that happen?”

“You mean, why didn’t he die with Phil?” Dan shrugged. “I guess he thinks more of me than just ‘bonded noble’s husband’. He managed to stick around, and now he’s bound to me.”

“More trouble than it’s worth, sometimes,” PJ murmured. “I would like my leg back.”

Louise’s eyes widened. “What?”

“I’ll get there.” Dan shook his head. “Anyway, I went ahead and entirely cut myself off from Avalier, in regards to loyalty. I made a Blood Oath for here. And I don’t regret it.” Dan spread his hands, trying to make Louise understand. “This has been more of a home for me than Avalier ever was.”

She smiled and put her hand on his arm. “Okay.”

He dropped his hands. “The problem then was I’d already stepped down from the Third Realm, and they couldn’t just have a loose noble wandering around. And Matthias, the old Lord of the Fourth Realm, he died in the Suzerain War, and his wife was left behind taking care of everything. And she’s done a fabulous job, really, she does most of the work, but Avalier was still jumping at me, so they married me off to her.”

“Oh.”

“And people didn’t like that--everyone knows we don’t love each other, but it’s never been about love.” Dan shook his head and dropped against the wall. “The magic needed another adult noble in the Fourth Realm, and I was available, so... yeah.” He slowly sunk down the wall until he was sitting on the floor. “As soon as PJ and I got to Quartal, someone tried to kill me, and it cost PJ his leg. MatPat helped us design a really good prosthetic, but still. He shouldn't have to deal with that.”

He took a deep breath.

“And then on a routine trip, I found out I’m a necromancer, and I’m terrified, Louise, I’m terrified, because all signs are pointing towards me being born with this magic, and I don’t have any memories of it showing up when I was little and nobody ever said anything.” His chest heaved. “And now Amanda’s pregnant, and we’re going to war, and I don’t know what to do.”

Louise sat next to Dan, and PJ leaned against the wall. She put her hand on Dan’s arm again.

“Dan. Breathe, Dan.”

“I-”

PJ put a comforting hand on the top of Dan’s head, pushing as much calm as he could through their bond to Dan.

Dan took a deep breath and pushed PJ’s hand off his head. “I don’t know what to do, Louise.”

“Babies happen,” Louise admitted. “I should know. I have three kids.”

Dan blinked, then grinned. “Three?”

Louise laughed. “Oh, they’re a handful. Darcy’s just about an adult now, and Pearl is doing fantastically in her studies. And little Daniel is at the stage where he’s constantly getting into everything, though his magic hasn’t shown up quiet yet.”

Dan gasped softly. “Little- little Daniel?”

Louise smiled. “Of course.”

Dan put his hands to his heart, grinning uncertainly.

Louise laughed again, though her expression was more serious. “It’ll be okay, Dan. Babies are hard, but you’ve already made it through so much. You can do this.” She leaned back on her heels. “As for the other thing you said...” She sighed. “I know what’s going on with that.”

Dan blinked. “About me being a necromancer? How would you know what’s going on with that? It’s shown up only recently, it’s not something I’ve been doing since I was a kid.”

Louise bit her lip. “Actually... you did.”

Dan just blinked.

“It was before you healed my arm.” She rubbed said arm absently. “You must have been barely four, I think. Almost four? You were very young. There was a baby bird, and it fell out of the nest long before it could fly. And one of the brand new kittens got to it, and the bird came away dead. And you saw it happening and ran away from your nanny to save the baby bird so fast you fell and split your knees open, but it was already dead.” She looked down. “Except then it wasn’t, but it was. It wasn’t breathing, and it shouldn’t have been moving, but it was. I don’t remember much from when I was that little, but I remember that.”

She swallowed.

“You almost immediately passed out, Dan, and I remember being so scared that you were dead. And the nanny was screaming, and when your parents found out... the news spread fast, Dan. And nobody wanted anything to do with the little boy who was a necromancer. You were four, and nobody wanted anything to do with you.”

Dan frowned. This was explaining things.

“And I remember, during the time we had to share a nanny because yours quit, our nanny took us to the temple and found the most powerful priest there. And he sang over you for hours, Dan, and when he was done he said he’d locked the necromancy away. That you wouldn’t ever be strong enough to break that, and that you’d stay innocent. He locked away part of your magic, Dan, and we were all surprised when you healed my arm later.”

Yeah. This definitely explained things.

“Once you’d healed my arm, most people forgot about you being a necromancer. People told me so often that I must have seen things wrong, that I’d seen you trying to heal the baby bird, and you just hadn’t been strong enough because it was your first time using magic, but I knew better.” She rubbed her arms. “But then you grew up, and you didn’t remember it, so I started doubting my own memory. And then it got to the point where I was the only person who seemed to remember it.”

She hesitated.

“Until the time came for the treaty with the Realms.”

Dan’s head snapped up.

“There were two others who had Realms-compatible magic, Dan,” Louise said softly. “Both girls. Both over 20. Both better for the treaty. But the royal family remembered your necromancy, and they didn’t want you around. So they gave you away without a second thought. They gave you away, and I thought I’d never see you again.”

Dan just stared at her. “Why... when I went back to Avalier twelve years ago, nobody said anything.”

“You weren’t going to stay, and I had a war to fight. I’m sorry. I didn’t know you didn’t know.”

Dan let his head drop back against the wall. “This explains so much.”

Footsteps walked up, and Dan glanced over to see Cry and Felix walking over.

“Hey,” he greeted simply.

“Hey,” Cry said. “Happy birthday to us.”

Dan snorted. “Happy birthday to you.”

Cry put a hand on his hip and held out a hand. “Nah. Come on. Let’s blow this joint.”

Dan raised his eyebrows and glanced at Louise, who gestured for him to go. “What did you have in mind?”

“Honestly? Cake and getting drunk.” Cry wiggled his fingers. “You in?”

Dan reached up and grabbed Cry’s hand. “Deal. Let’s go get drunk and have way too much cake.”

“I knew I had a good birthday buddy.” Cry clapped him on the shoulder, and they were off.

“We’ve known this for years, Cry,” Dan said dryly. “This is a yearly tradition. What difference does this year make.”

“I think we could both stand the pampering.” Cry said simply, though he sounded amused. “Just so long as we save cake for Felix and PJ.”

Dan glanced over his shoulder at the two Protectors, following more slowly and talking, mind whirling with these recent revelations. “No.”

Cry just laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm aware I've been absent from here as of late, and that's because I've been prepping to do NaNoWriMo this year--and this means I'm (probably) not going to publish anything for this until December rolls around and I have time to write for this again. 
> 
> See y'all in December.


	10. Tapestry

“So,” Wade said, “this sword is the only thing in the world that can kill a dragon?”

Blackscale hummed slightly. “No. Not as far as I know. It is, however, the only one in this area of the world, and the only one we have access to. And the others would either be tightly controlled or hidden in anonymity. We’re not finding them.” Their footsteps sounded softly on the stone floor. “Tapestry is what we have to work with.”

“Okay, so next question,” MatPat said. “Why can’t someone else use it to kill the dragon? Why does it have to be Gar?”

“Excellent question.” Blackscale’s voice came from behind Gar’s chair, and then hands were resting on his shoulders. “Because he never passed it, or the title that accompanies it, on to a successor.”

Silence.

“I may just be really hungover,” Cry finally said, “but I didn’t follow that.”

“...do I want to know how drunk you two got last night?” Wade asked suspiciously.

“No,” Dan said simply. “And if you asked, I’d lie.”

Gar sighed, standing and drawing his sword from where he’d slung the sheath across the back of his chair. “Okay — so you know how Molly made this for me?”

Silence.

Dan swore softly. “Everyone just nodded — come on, people. He can’t see that.”

Gar snorted softly. “Well, enchanted weapons, at least the good ones, are bound to their owners.” He tossed his sword lightly, catching it easily with his other hand. “If I tried that with literally any other sword, I’d probably cut my hand open.” He tilted his head. “But because Molly made this for me — and reinforced the spells after we learned I’m permanently blind — I always know where it is. I can’t consciously sense it like I can Molly, but my body always knows where it is.”

He sat.

“Wade’s sword is like that too, because Molly’s good at enchanted weapons.” Gar leaned back in his seat, jamming his sword back into its sheath. “So is Tapestry.” He paused. “Sort of.”

“Sort of?” MatPat asked. “Yeah, I figured that much. Fully enchanted weapons aren’t supposed to let anyone but their owner touch them.”

Gar nodded. “Exactly.” He drummed his fingers on the table. “Which is why nobody but JP is supposed to touch Tapestry now. For whatever reason, it has decided JP is its new owner.” He sighed. “Sort of.”

“Is this going to become a common theme?” JP asked suspiciously.

“It’s complicated,” Blackscale said simply.

“Because I never actually turned ownership of Tapestry over, it’s still bound to me,” Gar spread his hands. “No matter how much it hates me. Technically, nobody should be able to touch it right now.”

“But I can,” JP said, now clearly confused.

“I know, JP,” Gar sighed. “We just don’t know why.”

“I have a few theories,” Blackscale said, “but nothing concrete.” They hesitated. “Are you aware of how long Tapestry was considered lost forever?”

Silence stretched across the table.

“Nine hundred years,” MatPat finally said hesitantly. “Give or take a few decades, that is.” A chair creaked, supposedly meaning that MatPat had leaned either forward or back in his, as he often tended to do. “Though the rumors of when exactly it was found by Suzerain are so blatantly riddled with stories that it’s hard to know the truth.”

Gar titled his head, frowning. “What do the rumors say?”

“That it was found in a locked chest, buried and uncovered when a farmer went to dig a well, and it was sealed with blood magic. The king then supposedly took it to investigate it.”

Gar snorted. “That’s rich.”

“Do you know the truth?”

Gar shook his head. “I was on the other side of the world a hundred years ago, flirting with pretty women.” He smiled softly at Pat’s snort and Dan’s incoherent mutter. “But I do know where it was the last time  _ I  _ had it, and that was here.” He frowned. “Specifically at the heart of the magic. A thousand years ago.” He shook his head. “Clearly things can move around in that time, but... nobody was able to touch it without dying.”

A long, long silence stretched out as the implications of that statement fully sunk in.

“Am I understanding you correctly,” MatPat said, “in that someone was so desperate for this sword that JP holds that they not only snuck into  _ the palace _ to retrieve it, but killed multiple people to get it back to Suzerain?”

Gar nodded.

“But why?”

Gar shrugged. “Again, I wasn’t there.” He hesitated. “Though it was likely they wanted to use Tapestry to kill a demon.”

“Right,” Dan muttered. “Because that makes sense.”

Gar let out a long sigh, placing his hands flat on the table and bowing his head. “You’ve all fought demons, right?”

“No?” Luna said, and Evan echoed agreement.

Gar snorted. “Good. Your mothers would have my head if you had.” He sighed. “Demons can’t be killed by normal weapons, at least not easily. The weak ones can take a lot of damage from regular weapons. Any stronger demons, though, if you’re aiming to kill them and not just disable the current iteration of their body, require enchanted weapons to kill them. The stronger they are, the more difficult they are to kill.”

Cry sighed. “I seem to recall needing your help to take down demon generals.”

Gar nodded. “Exactly, though all three of those have been thoroughly killed and won’t ever be returning.” He tilted his head. “But if a weapon is strong enough to kill a dragon, it’s strong enough to eventually kill any demon.”

“Eventually?” Cry sounded worried about that. “Are demons stronger than dragons?”

“No. Not any of the ones left living.” Blackscale sighed. “At least for now.”

“Please tell me we’re not going to get more demon royalty.”

“Eventually, yeah.” Gar shook his head. “It’s a power void right now, and they’re actually necessary for demon society to function. Sooner or later, demons will be born to fill that void.”

“It’ll be a while,” Blackscale agreed. “At least a few hundred years. Definitely not something you or any close generations will have to worry about.”

“That’s not reassuring,” Dan said.

“I’ll make sure people are prepared,” was all Blackscale said.

“So, yeah, someone probably took Tapestry to try to kill a demon.” Gar paused, then laughed. “Actually, they might have been trying to kill me.” He rocked back into his chair, one hand stroking at his chin. “That would have been around the right time.”

“You’ve... had people try to kill you before?” JP asked.

“Oh, all the time.” Gar shrugged. “Nobody did anything to me that I couldn’t heal from.” He winced, thinking of the time he’d taken an arrow to the throat. “They definitely hurt, though.” He hadn’t been able to eat for nearly a fortnight, and he’d had problems talking and breathing for at least a decade. “In any case, that just explains why Suzerain would have wanted Tapestry, not why it’s letting JP use it.”

“As I said, I have a few theories,” Blackscale said. A pause, and a sigh. “The first is that my mother and my sister designed it so it would always have someone to wield it. It’s supposed to accompany a title and a burden, and being abandoned might have made it feel like it had to latch onto the first Realms noble that came across it.”

“But I was a teenager,” JP said. “I didn’t have a title. How did it know?”

“You still had nobility magic,” Blackscale said softly. “You were born a noble, whether or not the government recognized you.”

JP hummed unhappily. “But Molly got Gar’s royal magic.”

“Yeah.” Gar folded his arms. “In order for my magic to become unstable and for me to become a Protector, that had to happen. But the magic can’t just  _ get rid _ of something like that, so it gave the power to Molly.”

“That... sounds painful.”

“It was.”

“Another possibility,” Blackscale continued, “is that Tapestry realized that things were about to change and very deliberately chose JP to wield it, with the intention of having him earn the title of Dragonslayer in the darker of the two ways to get it.”

“Which is?”

“You would have had to kill me,” Gar said. “Not just disable my current body, but legitimately kill me.”

JP’s gasp was audible.

“You got close,” Gar said, moving his hand to rest on his ribs, where the scar from that fight with JP over a decade ago still sometimes ached. “If the blue moon hadn’t been full, you might have done it. And if you had, then you would be the Dragonslayer now.”

“But... I can’t fight. Not any more.” JP sounded distinctly unhappy about that. “I can barely walk, since you...”

“You didn’t kill me, though,” Gar pointed out. “So I’m still the Dragonslayer. Don’t worry, you don’t have to fight a dragon.”

JP’s sigh was full of relief.

“Question,” MatPat said. “The Guardians told us you died fixing the magic, the night of the convergence.” He paused. “Did you really?”

“I... don’t think so?” Gar scrunched his face. “I...” He trailed off as a faint memory tickled the edge of his mind, though he couldn’t grasp what it was. “I might have.”

“Yes,” Blackscale said quietly. “He did. Regardless of how much the magic had been repaired before Gar started on it, it requires a life to seal the repair.”

“Did Snow bring him back, then?” Amile asked.

“No binding can bring someone back from that,” Blackscale said. “But yes. Snow was the reason Gar is alive now.”

Gar frowned, eyebrows scrunching into his blindfold. “He never mentioned anything about it.”

“He’s not allowed to.” Blackscale sighed. “It was part of the deal, from what I understand.”

“What deal?” Wade asked. “With who?”

“I think Gar knows the answer to that,” Blackscale said.

They couldn’t be serious. The only way that was possible was if-

Gar froze, sitting up slowly in his seat.

“They  _ didn’t.” _

“They did.”

“They?” MatPat asked curiously, suspiciously. Then he paused, and then he gasped. “No- someone made a deal with the gods?  _ Snow  _ made a deal with the gods? But- how?”

In the next chair over, Pat shifted, fabric rubbing against wood and cloth, and his breath caught slightly.

“Pat?” Wade asked. “Do you know anything about this?”

“Gar-” Pat said slowly, “Gar, just how well do you know Sesz? Does Snow know them, too? Do... do you know any other gods?”

Gar bowed his head, closing his eyes. “I can’t tell you that.”

“Gar-”

“Don’t,” Gar said firmly, even as he winced to hear the gasp echo around the room from the word. “Don’t. I can’t tell you. I’m not allowed. Trust me, everyone is safer that way.”

“Gar?” Wade asked softly. “Gar, what aren’t you telling us?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I return! Updates will be sporadic until I get my life together, but I'm still here! I'll do my best to get stuff written and out, but you're always free to hit me up on tumblr if you just wanna talk.


	11. ABANDONMENT NOTICE

I am abandoning this series.

I will not write relationships, romantic or platonic, once it's over. In this particular case, one of the main friendships in the story has ended in real life. I will under no circumstances force that in a fictional setting.

It's not our place to speculate what happened. Don't ask. It's not our business.

If you would like to see what I have planned for other writing, you can [follow me on tumblr ](https://trulymightypotato.tumblr.com/) or [World Anvil.](https://www.worldanvil.com/author/trulymightypotato) One of the worlds on World Anvil might look familiar, but it's going to end up very different than what happened here.


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